Romanian hackers behind $30m Australian credit card theft

An international wrestling champion nicknamed 'The Carpathian Bear' was among 16 people detained as police busted a Romanian syndicate accused of the biggest theft of credit card data in Australian history.

The Australian Federal Police say computer hackers in Romania got access to 100 small retail outlets in Australia.

They allegedly stole the details of about 30,000 Australian cards and used the information to buy goods worth more than $30 million.

The joint operation by the AFP and Romanian National Police saw 200 police raid 36 properties across Romania this week.